Mythological Pages
May 2009 Issue
Gods, Love, and Psychiatry?
By: Jessica Lathrop
A strange yet seemingly successful combination for ABC’s newest romantic comedy series, Cupid. Cupid airs on Tuesdays, at 10/9 central, and is a remake of the original 1998 series of the same name.
The show stars Bobby Cannavale as Cupid. Cupid has been cast down from Mount Olympus as punishment by Zeus because the current condition of love is in such poor shape. In order to return, Cupid must help pair up 100 soul mates in New York City. His job is not made easy for him, however because he does not get to use his traditional weapons of bow and arrow, but instead has to do things “the hard way.” Under the human guise of Trevor Pierce, he begins his work; however his insistence that he is Cupid lands him in hot water and into a mental institution for three months. As it is, all of this is only the back story, and this is where the show truly begins.
Freshly released from the mental institution, he is placed under the constraints that he is to be under the care of a psychiatrist, Dr. Claire McCrae. She cannot get him to break his story; he is thereby ordered to attend her singles therapy group. Meanwhile, Trevor works as a bartender at a club called Tres Equis Cantina, which he quickly helps make more successful with his couple-attracting ideas-all the better to reach his goal. In return for his services, he is allowed to live in a room above the club. Although none of his friends seem to believe his “true identity,” everyone loves Trevor and his endless charm.
In addition to being friendly and charming, he is honest and loyal. It is this list of qualities that helps bring the level of romantic tension between Trevor and Claire higher each episode. It doesn’t take long for Trevor to realize he is hopelessly in love with Claire, and in his attempts to both win her over and prove to her he is- in fact- Cupid, he spouts out an unsurpassable amount of knowledge of mythology.
It is not only the fact that Trevor believes he is Cupid that keeps Claire at arm’s length, however. Their different views of love and relationships seem to make matters worse. While Trevor believes that love is a matter of passion, fire, heat and wanting, Claire believes love is about friendship, honesty, respect, and trust. Trevor’s constant match-making and how he goes about pairing up his “couples” continually irritate Claire and cause her to doubt Trevor and his ability to be rational.
The amount of mythology in this show is fairly comprehensive. It is based on a loose foundation of the Greek Pantheon of Gods, as well as the Roman gods, with a modern twist in order to keep viewers interested. While keeping to the historical and mythological elements, such as the proper names and hierarchy/pairing of the gods and goddesses, the writers throw in just the right mix of current culture, such as comments like, “In the last couple years they started handing out titles as political favors: God of Cookies, God of Hats, God of Tape. Everybody gets their fifteen minutes” (abc.com, 2009).
Right from the start, the elements of mythology are used to make the plot thicken. The pilot starts off with Cupid being arrested for a stunt in an attempt to match a couple, in which case he is determined insane when he tells police that he is Cupid, banished from Mount Olympus and put onto the earth with his mission of matching 100 couples. Cupid is then put into a mental institution. While there, he is put under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Claire McCrae. In order to prove that he is in fact NOT Cupid, and corner him into admitting his true identity, Dr. McCrae brings a book of Greek and Roman mythology to question him, however he knows every answer. What makes it interesting, however, is not his flawless knowledge, but the way he applies it. For example, when Dr. McCrae asked about Mount Olympus, he said it was a “non-stop, clothing-optional party; an amazing place; you have no idea…” To which she responds, "You just described the Playboy Mansion" (abc.com, 2009).
He is only stumped on one question: the human wife of Cupid, named Psyche, which I am going to assume at this point has something to do with the plot line as it is fairly obvious that the Psychiatrist and Psyche are similar in context when you examine the sexual tension between Cupid and the doctor later in the show. Further in the episode, Cupid- who has dubbed himself Trevor Pierce- is overheard telling someone his name is actually Eros, the Greek name for Cupid.
In the second and third episodes, not much mythology was spoken other than Cupid/Trevor being on his quest to get his 100 matches notched down and an occasional reference to the gods, Mount Olympus or other such mention. However the fourth episode was chock-full of mythological information. In a weakly displayed attempt to get closer to Claire, Trevor has decided to divulge his history in hopes that her efforts to “cure” him will really convince her of his true identity. Either way, he gets to spend more time with her, so its win/win for him. He starts by explaining about the hardships of being born to Mars, the god of war. He tells her his father was like a “rock star” back home in Mount Olympus, and that living up to his expectations was difficult. He says he would rather his father be a lesser god, like the God of commerce or cookies or such.
Later in the episode, he talks about his mother- Venus. He talks about her nudity and how often he had to see her statues and paintings. He even goes so far as to say, “She'd take her clothes off at the drop of a hat. Do you know how embarrassing that is for a kid? She may be the goddess of chastity, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a steady parade of 'uncles' coming through the place…” (abc.com, 2009) Claire then tells him that a person’s parents’ sexual tendencies affect their own and the conversation shifts to the orgies of Mount Olympus and Greco-Roman history- to which Claire is offended, but the humor is actually fairly impressive. He also mentions a brief romance between Eros (himself) and Brizo, the goddess of sailors.
From a mythological standpoint, however, the show is lacking credibility. The error seems to be in the fact that the writers cannot make up their minds between Greek and Roman mythology. While any basic mythology or humanities student could probably be familiar with the names called out during the show, most would also catch on to the errors. Zeus is a Greek god, and Cupid/Trevor claims that while he was banished by Zeus, his parents were gods Mars and Venus, which were Roman gods, not Greek. Another error is when he was overheard saying his real name is Eros, not Trevor. I thought we already clarified that Eros was the Greek name for Cupid.
So the true question is where does this guy come from- Rome, or Greece? Even from a mythological standpoint it starts getting confusing. No wonder the guy was committed to a mental institution. He talks about his home at Mount Olympus, and being Roman, and yet the two are different cultures. It seems as though the writers are constantly battling between their desire to flip between Greek and Roman mythology- at one point in Episode Four, Trevor is talking about Roman orgies and he mentions an orgy held by Dionysus- the Greek son of Greek god Zeus. Confused yet?
The only way the writers will be able to salvage their many mistakes with this one is to realize what they have done and clarify for their viewers that while the Roman and Greek pantheons are similar, the gods have different names and can be known as different things. While there is a Zeus in the Greek Mount Olympus that is equivalent to Jupiter of the Roman gods, the two are not exactly the same, and the Roman hierarchy of Gods and level of mythological stories do not match the Greek hierarchy and levels evenly. Of course, in the pilot, Claire did question Trevor with a book of Greek AND Roman mythology, so perhaps the writers are trying to incorporate the two somehow. If so, it’s rather unimpressive, and might not save Cupid in the eyes of true mythology fans. For regular viewers, however, the cutesy romanticized comedy of it all might just save the show.
For more information:
http://abc.go.com/primetime/cupid/index?pn=about
http://www.greekmythology.com/
http://www.unrv.com/culture/major-roman-god-list.php
© Jessica Lathrop
Women’s Rights Debate: Tertullian vs. Plato
It was an interesting day here at the Roman Civic Center’s debate hall here in Athens. The debate between Plato and Tertullian was a historic event, and spectators were lined up all around them. Both adversaries were filled with fervor and intensity, and neither seemed willing to budge on their side of the issue. The issue at hand today was women’s rights, and it was certainly a passionate debate. Among the observers were several other philosophers, including Socrates and Glaucon, and a few of the higher-ranking Christian clergymen. Watching from the sidelines, I stood in awe and listened intently to each of them contend their sides.
Plato argued possessively for the idea that women were equal to men. Not only should they get the same opportunities as men, but they should hold the same jobs as well- as equals. Plato made his point clear that “…no practice or calling in the life of the city belongs to woman as woman, or to man as man, but the various natures are dispersed among both sexes alike…” Tertullian countered, “In sorrow and anxiety, you will bring forth, O woman, and you are subject to your husband, and he is your master.” Tertullian went on to debate the fact that he believes women should forever feel the guilt-and thus suffer the punishment- that Eve has cast upon women when she ate the forbidden fruit and cast mankind out of the Garden of Eden. It was difficult to determine which side was in the lead early on in the debate, although it certainly seemed as though each side was equally zealous in their deliberations.
At this point, the issue of education was brought up. Tertullian opened with his comment that women should “keep [their] hands busy with spinning and stay at home—and [they] will be more pleasing than if [they] were adorned in gold.” He believed a woman’s place was to serve her husband and tend to their home. Plato paled at this idea, possibly overwhelmed with the thought that women should have to stay indoors and not receive a proper education. He gave a taut smile and countered, “Well, for a woman to become fit to be a guardian, we shall not need one education to make men fit and a different one to make women fit, especially as it will be dealing with the same nature in both?” He explained that it would be pointless to educate a woman only to keep her inside, and to only keep her inside would be wasteful of her talents and potential. Plato’s vision of a woman’s place is beside a man, and not behind one. Plato won this argument point, although Tertullian didn’t seem to be especially impressed by Plato’s disposition.
On their next point of debate, the two discussed the topic of appearances. Plato started with his comment, “So the women of the guardians must strip, since naked they will be clothed in virtue for gowns…and the man who laughs at naked women, exercising for the greatest good, plucks an unripe fruit of wisdom for his laughter…” At this, surely I though Tertullian would fall from his chair out of shock. Quickly, he composed himself, cleared his throat, and replied with his counter-argument. “Holy women, let none of you, if she is naturally beautiful, be an occasion of sin; certainly, if even be so, she not increase beauty, but try to subdue it.” On this point, it seemed as though Plato had lost due to the fact that the idea of beautiful women suppressing beauty was far more comforting than picturing naked women exercising.
The debate closed on a sour note for the two deliberators, as it seemed neither could sway the other into their opinion, nor could they agree to disagree. Each was so passionate- Tertullian in his faith and ideas that women should be subservient and suffer the chastisement of Eve and her ultimate crime; Plato and his philosophical notions that women and men are equal and should be educated and provided for as such- that neither could come to any conclusion. As a result, the debate has been rescheduled to continue on for the next few generations, upon which if Plato and Tertullian can no longer debate for themselves, others will pick up the debate for them and expand upon it as necessary. Our news crew will cover all future debates.
(Quotes taken from words of the writings of ancient philosophers Plato and Tertullian and used in a fictional setting of a women's rights debate as if it were taking place in an ancient Roman scene.)
© Jessica Lathrop
